27/07/2015 - Europe continues to watch in silence the migratory process that from Africa brings hundreds of thousands of desperate people to the old continent. A small part flees from wars or dictatorial regimes, others leave Africa for economic reasons, still others to try to reunite with family members who preceded them over time.

A flow that has been going on for some time and that directly involves Italy, the southern border of Europe, engaged first with the operation Mare Nostrum and now always at the forefront even with the help of military ships from Great Britain, Germany, Iceland, France, Norway, the Netherlands, Spain Portugal, Lithuania and Malta, authorized to arrive in the Libyan territorial waters as part of the operation Triton wanted by the EU. About 17 ships flying different flags that in fact project their national sovereignty against Libya, to embark refugees drifting in the Mediterranean and then land them in Italian ports, delegating to Italy the management of reception according to an extreme interpretation of what was expected from the "Dublin III" European Convention.

A Treaty considered "milestone" in the construction of the Common European Asylum System and which refers to general principles similar to those of the old Dublin Convention of the 1990 and Dublin II. In particular, each asylum application must be examined by only one Member State and the competence for examining an application for international protection falls first and foremost on the State that played the major role in relation to the entry and residence of the applicant in territory of the Member States, with the exception of exceptions (COM 2008 / 820, 03.12.2008, page 3).

On the basis of these contents, Italy, "European outpost for migrants", must manage the reception, activate recognition procedures, return procedures, and perform tasks that are not easy to delegate from Europe with an interpretation of Dublin that it should be reviewed in the light of the contingent reality in which it is articulated Triton.

A good number of refugees arrive on the national territory after passing on the deck of military ships of other States, which according to international law and the sea are in effect an integral part of the country of belonging and constitute, in this case, real " "Welcoming" reception centers that have nothing to do with the Italian sovereign territory.

Warships that maintain their complete national identity and immunity (sovereign immunity) on the high seas, during transit through territorial waters or the stay in the internal waters of another state with exemption from detention, inspection, taxes and the application of foreign laws. In short, a complete immunity from the jurisdiction of any State other than the flag state (UNCLOS 95 and 96), even exempted ship from exhibiting the "Courtesy Flag" once it docks in a port of a host nation.

Naval forces that during navigation have an exclusive and polyvalent role, practicing Law, Strength and Diplomacy, as a total expression of the State of belonging both as a territorial entity and as a juridical entity. Real "pieces" of national territory projected onto the sea, which as such should be subject to the rules and conventions ratified by the Member States of the European Union, first of all the Dublin III.

That said, it is not understandable, therefore, why the military ships of other European nations that contribute to the operation Triton they do not apply "Dublin" once they have embarked the rescued refugees at sea. The Convention, in fact, clearly establishes the obligation to manage reception linked to territorial sovereignty and extends it to airport transit areas where Article 15 Dublin III provides that if "the will to request international protection is manifested" (and not more "when the asylum application is lodged") in the international transit area of ​​an airport of a Member State, that State is the competent one.

An article of the Convention which more than others clearly indicates that one of the main objectives of "Dublin III" is to prevent asylum seekers from submitting applications in several EU Member States (asylum shopping) and to reduce the number of applicants transported from one state to another, as is the case when a military ship from the United Kingdom, rather than French or German, disembarks migrants in an Italian port delegating to Italy the application of the Dublin Convention.

The ship involved in Triton it is largely military and therefore to all intents and purposes an expression of the national territory to which it belongs. Once embarked the refugees should then manage them as if they had landed in Lampedusa rather than Malta or Normandy.

Therefore, it is not understandable why the implementing rules of the new EU directive on the reception of 26 on June 2013 and the relative implementation regulation (604 / 2013), the normative pillars of the European system of entry, refuge and refugee expression of common procedures valid throughout the EU.

It is not clear, therefore, why Italy can not hijack in Germany or France migrants disembarked in Sicily, while a French or German military ship can "unload", instead, on the Italian territory migrants embarked on their military ship " playing the dominant role in relation to the entry and residence of an applicant on the territory of the Member States ". Portion of European territory which, in compliance with the Dublin agreements, should be obliged to give international protection to those entitled and at the same time to proceed with the repatriation of "economic migrants" and illegal immigrants.

Perhaps the EU and the High Representative for European Foreign Policy Federica Mogherini should expect a more careful application of the European treaties and the national media to give greater emphasis to these inconsistencies!

Fernando Termentini

(photo: Frontex)